Prince Andrew's lawyers believe this secret document can save him in sex abuse case

After avoiding court papers for over two weeks, Prince Andrew's lawyers believe that they might have just found another legal loophole that could save the British royal in the sex abuse case against him.

Andrew's legal team suspects that accuser Virginia Giuffre's lawyers are going to submit a secret document in court that could end up working in the Prince's favour. According to a report in the Sun, the document which is more than a decade old, deals with her case against her sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew's team has demanded Giuffre's lawyers to unseal the document, which they believe will waive her right to pursue legal action against the 61-year-old. However, her lawyers are confident that this will be a futile attempt by the opposition's team. Her head attorney David Boies reportedly said in a legal document filed in New York this week that he was happy to hand the document over to Andrew's team, noting that it will be "irrelevant" in the case.

"Although we believe that the release is irrelevant to the case against Prince Andrew, now that service has been accepted and the case is proceeding to a determination on the merits, we believe that counsel for Prince Andrew have a right to review the release and to make whatever arguments they believe appropriate based on it. Accordingly, we have given Mr. Epstein's Estate notice of Prince Andrew's request and have asked the Estate to consent to our providing a copy of the release to Prince Andrew's counsel," he said.

The document is reportedly a 2009 settlement agreement from a lawsuit against Epstein in Florida. Andrew's lawyer Andrew B. Brettler had brought it up in the last hearing, saying "There has been a settlement agreement that the plaintiff has entered into in a prior action that releases the duke and others from any and all potential liability." However, Boies said that the agreement releases lawyers, employees, agents and heirs from liability in connection with the Epstein case - not the Duke of York.

Giuffre has claimed in her lawsuit that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her while she was still a teenager after she was trafficked by his former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.